


of hearts and hands

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Fluff, Fourth Shinobi War, Haruno Sakura-centric, Insecurity, Light Angst, Romantic Friendship, hurt/comfort...kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “my heart has been held in these very hands!”the breath catches in sakura’s throat as she soaks in his words. the golden light is reflecting in naruto’s blue eyes, shimmering brilliantly. in that moment, naruto looks more sincere, more determined, moreangelicthan she had ever seen him before, and she thinks her heart has almost stopped at the sight.naruto uzumaki can say some pretty weird things.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 9
Kudos: 125





	of hearts and hands

“Do you know that I love you?”

Sakura looks up. Naruto is laying on the cot behind her, looking more bruised pumpkin than shinobi — the result of an impetuous decision to rush into the heat of battle despite being almost completely depleted of chakra. Sakura often wondered how the so-called Nine Tails Jinchuuriki could contain such monstrous power and _still_ have to be treated in the same tent as countless regular ninja. She grimaces as she turns to face him. Naruto’s face was black and blue; his orange sweater had been shredded to pieces and now lay limp on the floor next to his cot; and a gruesome slash ran down the length of his chest to his stomach where a Zetsu clone had ripped into him. The medic-nin were able to bandage him up, but by the time he had been dragged into the tent Naruto was delirious and about to black out.

Now, two hours later, Naruto was awake. And babbling some strange, but familiar things.

“Get some rest, idiot. You’re half-conscious and saying weird stuff again.”

Naruto lets out a strained chuckle in response, but the pressure on his abdomen makes him cringe. On instinct Sakura reaches out her hand, laying it on his stomach. “And stop moving! Your wounds will reopen.”

“I’m sorry,” Naruto sighs. He weakly clasps his hand on Sakura’s own, and the sudden touch is enough to make her breath catch. “And I’m fully conscious, you know. I guess my body woke up to tell you that I love you.” Sakura tries to tug her hand away in annoyance, but Naruto grasps harder.

“Do you know that I love you?” Naruto repeats.

It irritates Sakura to no end; how Naruto would say such things at the most inappropriate of times. Even now, when he was bruised and battered, laying in a medical tent in the midst of a battlefield. A familiar urge to knock him upside the head resurfaces, but the sincere glimmer in his sky-blue eyes stills the pink-haired medic-nin. 

“Naruto…”  
“Ahah, silly me. Of course you know!”  
“Eh? Naruto! Why ask at a time like-”  
“But do you wanna know why?”

Sakura wrests her hand from Naruto’s grip and stands up in a huff. “W-wait, Sakura, come back!” Naruto calls out.

“I’ve had enough of your babbling!” Sakura spits in reply. She goes to prepare some more bandages and wet cloths, trying to ignore the way her heart was skipping rapidly and how the warmth from Naruto’s touch was making her fingers tingle. That also irritated Sakura to no end — how every time he’d say those things that glimmer in his eyes would always catch her gaze, and her stomach would flip. As she bent down to move supplies and boxes out of the way in search of clean cloth, she wondered since _when_ Naruto had that effect on her.

Naruto stays quiet for a while, and Sakura could feel his eyes following her as she performed her duties. The question he had asked, _“Do you want to know why?” _was still lingering in the air. Honestly, Sakura really _was_ wondering why.__

____

The flap of the tent suddenly opens, and Ino walks in. “Sakura-chan, your assistance is needed in Tent 37,” she says, her tone urgent.

____

“I’ll be right there,” Sakura nods, grabbing a bag full of medical tools and rolls of bandages. “I’m all done here, anyways.”

____

“What- what’s happened out there?” Naruto calls from where he’s laying. “How bad is it?”

____

“There’s a bunch of casualties. We had to drag you and the rest of the injured shinobi forces off the battlefield before it got _really_ ugly,” Ino explains. “If it weren’t for Sakura’s quick work, you would’ve bled out hours ago.”

____

Naruto struggles to sit up, grimacing as he did so. The look on his face was solemn. “If it weren’t for Sakura-chan, huh?”

____

Sakura lowers her gaze when Naruto says it. _It’s not like I was the only one. Tsunade and Ino were there too._

____

“They need your help, you know!” Naruto calls to her one last time, a smile curling on his lips. “What are you waiting for?”

____

Sakura nods in reply, then closes the flap behind her.

. . .

The injured shinobi is groaning and writhing when Sakura rushes into Tent 37, and she shudders to think of the unbearable pain he must be going through. The medic-nin are already performing the healing jutsu, their hands splayed on his chest, but the wounds aren’t healing very quickly.

____

“There she is! Sakura-san,” One of the medics glances up.

____

“What’s the situation?” Sakura asks in an authoritative tone, scanning the tent.

____

“We’re a bit short-staffed here, ma’am. We’re currently performing healing jutsu on twelve other ninja and nursing a few others, but this one’s wounds are a bit more severe than we thought.”

____

“Let me see him.” She leans over the injured ninja — a nasty cut was running at an angle down the length of his shoulder all the way to his waist, and a steady river of blood was staining his skin. He evidently was bleeding internally too; there was a large purple bruise on his stomach. The shinobi forces his eyes open with a grunt. “I-it won’t s-stop…throbbing-” he gasps.

____

Sakura shushes him. “Try not to move around too much. This might take a while, so just try taking deep breaths.” She splays her hands over the ninja’s abdomen, then closes her eyes in concentration. “Ninja Art: Mystical Palm Technique!”

____

The green glow of chakra seeps from her fingers into the injured ninja’s body, and almost immediately his breathing becomes steadier. After a while, the bleeding trickles down, then stops completely, and the bruise on his stomach fades a bit. Sakura gasps from the exhaustion of using a jutsu for so long, but she smiles when the ninja pipes up to thank her.

____

“There’s no need,” she replies quietly.

____

“You’ve done it? Thank you so much for your help, Sakura-san!” A medic-nin says as she bustles around the tent. Sakura sighs in satisfaction, then reaches into her bag in search for a gauze and ointment.

____

She pulls out a bottle of sweet-smelling herbal oil and dips it on some cotton. “This will sting a bit.” The ninja takes a sharp breath when she places it on the ninja’s arm.

____

“For sure,” he replies, wincing. “Was this developed by Lady Tsunade?”

____

“Oh, I developed it myself.” Sakura tries to hide the hint of pride in her voice — the ointment was not only really nice to sniff, but very potent as well. Apparently, lavender and slug slime had a bunch of healing properties.

____

“That’s amazing,” the shinobi breathes. “Everything you’ve done here is amazing.” Sakura lowers her eyes, her cheeks blushing pink. “Not really. Compared to Naruto and the other Jinchuuriki, I’ve done much less.”

. . .

Sakura finds Naruto standing on an overhanging cliff an hour later. His eyes are intently scanning the horizon — the battlefield is only five miles away, but swirling dark clouds could clearly be seen overhead. The thundering of an ongoing war was not ear-shattering from where they were standing, but was still clearly heard. Naruto’s eyebrows were knit in concern, and he doesn’t seem to hear Sakura approach him from behind.

____

“N-Naruto?”

____

The blonde whips his head around, startled. “Sakura! You scared me just then, ya know!”

____

Sakura chuckles. “I’m sorry.”

____

She takes her place beside him, quietly watching the horizon darken. The sun was setting, and if it were not for the dark haze of the battlefield blocking their view, the sunset would’ve painted the sky with brilliant oranges, reds, and purples.

____

Naruto finally breaks the silence. “Were you able to save anyone today?”

____

“Mm. A shinobi who had gotten in close quarter combat with a Zetsu clone and had almost been ripped to shreds. He was practically almost dead by the time I got there.”

____

Naruto winces. “I could’ve ended up like him, if it weren’t for my powers.”

____

“You could’ve easily avoided near death if you had just used your brain!” Sakura quips. “And what are you doing up? You should be recovering!” She eyes the layers of bandages wrapped around his shoulders and chest, as well as the fading bruises on Naruto’s cheeks. He’s leaning on some crutches, too.

____

But Naruto ignores her nagging, and turns to face Sakura. “But I _didn’t_ die. And it was all thanks to you, ya know!”

____

For a moment, Sakura’s heart leaps into her throat when their eyes lock. In the fading light of day, the sun’s beams seem to have been caught in Naruto’s blue eyes and flicker gold. _There it is again,_ that arresting gaze of his that accompanied all his words, all his promises.

____

Damn, it irritated Sakura _to no end._

____

“All thanks…to me?” she repeats.  
“Yeah!”

____

At that, Sakura turns her face away; she doesn’t want Naruto to see how her face was flushing red in shame. “I-it’s not like that…”

____

“What do you mean?” Naruto demands, reaching for her arm. “It’s because of you that so many shinobi got another shot at life!” Sakura pauses at his outburst.

____

_How can he say such things?_ Sakura wants to shout. _Things like ‘I love you’, and making such big promises, and that_ look _in your eyes when you say them…it’s all- **it’s confusing me so much!**_

____

The silence stretches for a long while, then—

____

_“Why.”_ Sakura doesn’t realize she had said it out loud. “Why do you love me so much?!”

____

Naruto straightens; her words had stilled him. He silently lets go of her arm and lowers his gaze.

____

“I’ve spent all this time trying to catch up with you. You were always improving, always learning, no matter if you were clumsy or slow. And you improved so much over the past three years, so much so that you’re almost able to fully control the Tailed Beast inside you. So when I saw you — training with Jiraiya-sensei, and getting stronger and more proficient, I felt I was being left behind. So I asked Lady Tsunade to train me, and I learned how to perform all this medical jutsu so I could keep up…but I can’t- I can’t save everyone, you know!”

____

“Sakura…

____

“My hands… _they aren’t enough._ So many people out there I could’ve helped, but I’m too weak to save all of them. Compared to what you and our comrades have done, all that I’ve learned is totally insignificant! And just today, when you lay bleeding on the field, all I could think about when I rushed towards you was that I _still_ hadn’t caught up — _my hands are still not enough!”_

____

“Sakura!” Naruto yells, and Sakura startles from her blubbering.

____

The blonde forcefully grabs her shoulders and pulls her so that she’s facing him. He leans in, and he makes sure that when his eyes meet hers, she wouldn’t look away. The close proximity makes Sakura’s heart skip faster and faster, and her stomach is doing somersaults.

____

They stay like that for a few moments, just enough time for both their hearts to settle down and beat at a regular pace. Finally, Sakura repeats the question Naruto had asked her at the tent. “Naruto…why do you love me so much? I’ve always wondered why.”

____

He sighs in reply, taking both of her hands in his. “Well…not only was it your beauty that made me fall for you, but in time I realized it was also…your _hands,_ I guess.”

____

“…my hands?”

____

Naruto’s lips curl in a dazzling, but tender smile. His fingers are rubbing Sakura’s hands, and the warmth spreads from her palms all the way up to her arms. “Yes. It was your selfless hands that had worked so hard, and it was your hands that had saved the lives of dozens of shinobi, including mine.”

____

Sakura could feel tears welling behind her eyes. _Why must he say such weird things?_

____

“My hands…are weak compared to yours-”

____

_“My heart has been held in these very hands!”_

____

The breath catches in Sakura’s throat as she soaks in his words. The golden light is reflecting in Naruto’s blue eyes, shimmering brilliantly. In that moment, Naruto looks more sincere, more determined, more _angelic_ than she had ever seen him before, and she thinks her heart has almost stopped at the sight.

____

“What?” the words barely escape her lips.

____

Naruto’s smile turns into a grin, and he brings her hands to his lips. “Your hands…back there on the battlefield, just before I blacked out, I saw you running to my side. And I thought of that time when you had revived me before…and when I woke up later, I don’t know, I- I just had to remind you, ya know?” He places a tender kiss on the back of Sakura’s hand, and for once she doesn’t pull away in disgust.

____

“It’s a precious thing, I realized. To have held someone’s very heart and brought them back to life…so Sakura, don’t _ever_ call yourself weak again. I won’t hear it. Your hands are _beautiful,_ Sakura, and that’s why I fell even deeper in love, so I won’t hear another word about you being weak — especially not from yourself.”

____

Teardrops blur Sakura’s vision and fall onto the back of her hand. How is it that such a clumsy ninja could say such romantic things when unwarranted? “Idiot,” she gulps. “You always say such weird things.”

____

Naruto chuckles as he tenderly brushes the tears from her eyes. “I know. You tell me that all the time.”

____

Their eyes lock once again, a shimmering blue peering into sparkling green. Sakura doesn’t know exactly what she’s thinking when she places a hand on Naruto’s chest; only that it felt right. She buries her face in Naruto’s shoulder, and in turn he wraps his arms around her.

____

“Thank you,” she whispers. She can feel his heart beating steadily in his chest, and she smiles when she thinks back on his words.

____

She has held his heart in her very hands, and she knows he would be there to hold hers as well.

____


End file.
